What’s the buzz?
A self-reported addition to SOMnews for the School of Medicine community to share their successes.

University

of

Maryland School

of

Medicine

SOMnews

Events, Lectures
Kudos to our colleagues who are experts in their fields and give their
all to represent the School of Medicine!
J Institute for Genome Sciences: Scientists at the Institute for Genome
Sciences held three-day Genomics Training Workshops in July, September
and November 2009. Multiple institutes at the National Institutes of Health
fund the workshops, which are held four times a year at IGS. The workshops
include detailed instruction on genome sequencing, annotation and analysis.
The workshop is organized and in part taught by Michelle G. Giglio, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine. Additional instructors are all from
the Institute for Genome Sciences and include Jennifer Wortman, Assistant
Professor, Department of Medicine; Marcus C. Chibucos, PhD, Heather Huot-Creasy,
Sean Daugherty, and Brandi Cantarel, PhD, Bioinformatics Analysts; Luke J. Tallon,
Scientific Director and Lisa Sadzewicz, PhD, Administrative Director, Genomics
Resource Center; Joshua Orvis and Kevin Galens, Bioinformatics Engineers.
J Maureen Black, PhD, the John A. Scholl, MD & Mary Louise Scholl, MD
Professor of Pediatrics, chaired a session on Nutrition and Cognition and was
invited to give two talks at the International Congress of Nutrition in Bangkok, Thailand, in October 2009. She presented “Nutrition and Cognition
in Children: Possible Mechanisms of Action, Impact on Public Health: Will
Insights Lead to More Children Reaching Their Developmental Potential?”
and “Development of Responsive Feeding Indicators for Young Children.” Dr.
Black was also one of only 12 conference delegates invited to have lunch with
Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorm of Thailand’s royal family.

February 2010 Vol.11 No.6

& Workshops
J Brian Browne, MD, professor and chair, and Amal
Mattu, MD, associate professor, both of the Department of Emergency Medicine, were invited speakers
at the Second Administration and Management Fellowship at Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam,
The Netherlands, in May 2009. The Third Dutch North Sea
Emergency Medicine Conference was held in Egmond aan Zee
Brian Browne, MD
in tandem with the fellowship in early June. Emergency Medicine faculty attending that meeting included Dr. Mattu, Siamak Moayedi, MD,
assistant professor; Stephen M. Schenkel, MD, assistant professor and Robert Rogers,
MD, assistant professor. Terry Mulligan, DO, part-time clinical assistant professor,
was the course organizer for the fellowship and a speaker at the conference.
J Kevin Chen, PhD, MPH, associate professor, Department of
Family & Community Medicine and Center for Integrative
Medicine, gave a lecture at NIH-NCCAM on October 5, 2009,
titled “Introduction to Medical Qigong—Mysteries & Wonders
of Chinese Medicine.”
J Margaret Chesney, PhD, professor, Department of Medicine,
and associate director, Center for Integrative Medicine, gave
a presentation at a meeting sponsored by the Grantmakers in
Health and Fannie Ripple Foundation at Jefferson University in
Philadelphia, PA, on September 21, 2009. Her presentation was
entitled “Integrative Medicine: Translating Public Interest into
Evidence-Based Practice.”

the buzz

Margaret Chesney, PhD

Events, Lectures & Workshops continued
J John W. Cole, MD, MS, associate professor, Department of
Neurology, was an invited speaker at the 12th Annual Force
Health Protection Conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico,
held from August 1–14, 2009, at the U.S. Army Center for
Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine. His presentation
was entitled “Cigarette Smoking and the Risk of Cerebrovascular
Disease: New Insights Across the Age Spectrum.” Dr. Cole also
gave a talk at the Delaware Stroke Initiative’s 9th Annual Stroke
Education Conference on October 3, 2009, entitled “Stroke in
the Young.”
John W. Cole, MD, MS

Steven Czinn, MD

Richard Lichenstein, MD

J Steven Czinn, MD, professor and chair, Department of Pediatrics, was invited to present “Vaccine development to prevent or
eradicate H.pylori infection: an update” at the 15th International
Workshop on Campylobacter, Helicobacter and Related Organism (CHRO), which was held in Niigata, Japan, from September
2–5, 2009.
J Howard Dubowitz, MD, professor,
Department of Pediatrics, was an invited lecturer at the plenary sessions
of the South American Conference
on Child Maltreatment in Bogota,
Columbia on September 24-25,
2009. His presentation was “Child
Neglect: A Child’s Perspective, a
Public Health Approach to Preventing Child Maltreatment.”

ment has been found to be an effective intervention to prevent accident-related
injury, but regular implementation of such contracts is rare. Dr. Lichenstein is a
principal investigator on a grant building a school-based and police department
program aimed at decreasing teen-related crashes by highlighting the Parent Teen
Driving Agreement. Dr. Lichenstein also presented “Teen Driving— Kids at Risk”
at the meeting.
J Istvan Merchenthaler, MD, PhD, ScD, professor, Department of Epidemiology &
Preventive Medicine, presented at the 20th Annual Meeting of
the American Menopause Society in San Diego, CA, on October
2, 2009. His talk was titled “A novel brain-selective prodrug
of estradiol alleviates symptoms of menopause (hot flashes and
depression) and neuronal cell death in animal models without
exhibiting uterotrophic activity.”
J Wendy Sanders, MA, Assistant Dean for Research Career
Development, gave a grant writing workshop at the Association
of American Medical Colleges’ annual conference for minority
faculty in Puerto Rico on September 11, 2009, and another at the
World Stem Cell Summit in Baltimore on September 21, 2009.
J Kevin Sheth, MD, assistant professor, Department of Neurology,
was chosen to participate in the NINDS/ANA Career Development Symposium and Junior Faculty Development Course on
Oct. 10-11, 2009. These programs immediately preceded the
134th Annual Meeting of the American Neurological Association (ANA) at the Baltimore Marriott Waterfront Hotel.

J Richard Lichenstein, MD, associate
Howard Dubowitz, MD
professor, Department of Pediatrics,
chaired the Topic Symposia for the Pediatric Academic Societies
(PAS) Annual Meeting, held in Baltimore, May 3, 2009. The
symposia, “Keeping Teens Safe on the Road—What’s Known,
How to Do It and What the Future Holds” focused on the fact
that nationwide, motor vehicle collisions are the leading cause of
death in teenagers ages 16–20, accounting for more than 5,500
deaths annually. The Checkpoints Parent Teen Driving Agree-

Wendy Sanders, MA

J Dr. Samba Sow, MD, adjunct professor, Department of Medicine and Center for Vaccine Development (Mali), hosted and
served as Course Director for the Second International Course
on Training Techniques at the Hotel Salam in Mali in October
2009. The course brought together 16 participants from France,
Lebanon, the Netherlands, Madagascar and Mali and focused on
Kevin Sheth, MD
improving the quality of immunization activities. The five-day
course supported the Expanded Program on Immunization of the various countries
concerned and was organized in collaboration with the World Health Organization, the Center for Vaccine Development and the Merck Foundation.

the buzz

Publications

Hats off to those who have been published!
J Maureen Black, MD, the John A. Scholl, MD &
Mary Louise Scholl, MD Professor of Pediatrics;
Sarah Overlander, fellow; and Howard Dubowitz, MD,
all from the Department of Pediatrics, were among
the authors of “Sexual Intercourse Among Adolescents Maltreated Before Age 12: A Prospective
Investigation,” published in Pediatrics, 2009; 124:
941-949.

nant CNTFR: connexin-43 upregulation” in Investigative Ophthalmology and
Visual Sciences, 2009;50:1801-7. She also co-published an article entitled “VIP
down-regulates the inflammatory potential and promotes survival of dying
(neural crest-derived) corneal endothelial cells ex vivo: necrosis to apoptosis
switch and up-regulation of Bcl-2 and N-cadherin in the Journal of Neurochemistry, 2009:109:792-806.
J Robert Koos, PhD, professor; Armina A. Kazi, PhD, post-doctoral fellow; and
Kristin Happ Molitoris, BA, doctoral student, all from the Department of Physiology, co-authored a paper entitled “Estrogen Rapidly
Activates the PI3K/AKT Pathway and HypoxiaInducible Factor 1 and Induces Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A Expression in Luminal
Epithelial Cells of the Rat Uterus” in the journal
Biology of Reproduction, August 2009, 81 (2) 378387. Additionally, the trio co-authored a paper
entitled “Inhibition of Hypoxia-Inducible Factor1 Degradation with Cobalt Chloride Unmasks
17-Estradiol Induction of Vascular Endothelial
Growth Factor Expression in Endometrial Cancer
Cells in Vitro” that was published in the December Robert Koos, PhD
2009 issue of Endocrinology.
J Judy LaKind, PhD, associate professor, Department of Epidemiology & Preventive Medicine, published several papers recently, including “Perspective on
serum dioxin levels in the United States: An evaluation of the NHANES
data” in the May 2009 issue of Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental
Epidemiology 2009;19:435-441; and “Public health interpretation of trihalomethane blood levels in the U.S.: NHANES 1999-2004” in the June issue of
the same journal. Dr. LaKind also had published letters to the editor in Breastfeeding Medicine—“Response to Geraghty et al.” 4(2):127—and the August
issue of Environment International—“Human milk biomonitoring of phthalates:
Expanding our understanding of infant exposure is compatible with supporting
breastfeeding.” 35:994-995. In addition, Dr. LaKind co-published an article
entitled, “Conclusions and key research recommendations from the Workshop

the buzz

Publications continued
on Advancing the Science: Childhood Asthma and Environmental Exposures
at Swimming Pools” in Environmental Health Perspectives 2009;117:500-507;
and “Science Selections: Widening the Pool of Factors Studies Needed to Assess Asthma” in Swimming, p. A162.
J Patricia Langenberg, PhD, professor, and Laura
Hungerford, DVM, MPH, PhD, professor, both of the
Department of Epidemiology & Preventive
Medicine, in conjunction with Manhattan
Charurat, PhD, MS,
assistant professor, and
William Blattner, MD,
professor, both of the
Department of MediPatricia Langenberg, PhD
cine, co-authored, “The
use of supplementary techniques to increase recall
Manhattan Charurat, PhD, MHS
of sex partners in a network-based research study in
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil” in Sexually Transmitted Diseases 35(7):674-8. In addition,
Dr. Hungerford co-authored “Association between Mycobacterium avium subsp.
paratuberculosis infection among offspring and their dams in nondomestic ruminant species housed in a zoo” in the Journal of Veterinary Diagnostic Investigation
21(1):40-7. Also, she and David Smith, PhD, adjunct assistant professor in the
Department of Epidemiology & Preventive Medicine, co-authored “Optimally
timing primaquine treatment to reduce Plasmodium falciparum transmission in
low endemicity Thai-Myanmar border populations” in Malaria Journal 8:159.
J Richard Lichenstein, MD, associate professor in the Departments of Pediatrics
and Emergency Medicine, co-authored “Identification of children at very low
risk of clinically-important brain injuries after head trauma: a prospective
cohort study” in The Lancet, 2009, Volume 374, 9696:1160-1170. The complete text can be found at http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/
PIIS0140-6736(09)61558-0/fulltext.

J Michael Makley, MD, assistant professor, Department of Neurology, published
“Return of memory and sleep efficiency following moderate to severe closed
head injury” in Neurorehabilitation and Neural Repair 23(4): 320-6 (2009).
J Eric Manheimer, MS, research associate, Center
for Integrative Medicine and director, Cochrane
CAM Field Database, and Brian Berman, MD, professor, Department of Family & Community Medicine and director, Center for Integrative Medicine,
published “Evidence from the Cochrane Collaboration for traditional Chinese medicine therapies”
in the Journal of Alternative & Complementary
Medicine. 2009 Sep;15(9):1001-14.
J Cecelia Melendres, MD, assistant professor, DeEric Manheimer, MS
partment of Pediatrics, co-authored “Obstructive
Sleep Apnea in Adults with Down Syndrome,”
published in the September issue of the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine.
J Istvan Merchenthaler, MD, PhD, ScD, professor,
Department of Epidemiology & Preventive Medicine, and Eugene Albrecht, PhD, professor, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive
Sciences, co-authored “Estrogen Promotes of
Germ Cell and Seminiferous Tubule Development
in the Baboon Fetal Testis” in the August issue of
Biology of Reproduction, 81(2):406-14. Dr. Merchenthaler was also co-author of “Catecholaminergic input to the oxytocin neurosecretory system in
the human Hypothalamus,” published in the July
Istvan Merchenthaler, MD, PhD,
ScD
issue of Journal of Chemical Neuroanatomy, 37:229233, 2009. In addition, he co-authored “Temporal
profile of estrogen-dependent gene expression in LHRH-producing GT1-7
cells” in the February 2009 issue of Neurochemistry International, 54:119-134,
2009, and authored a chapter and was co-editor of the book, “Neuropeptides
and Peptide Analogs,” published in 2009 by Research Signpost in Kerala, India.

for quantification of BK and JC polyomaviruses in renal transplant patients”
in Diagnostic Molecular Pathology. The method they discussed in this article
is now offered at the Molecular Diagnostics Laboratory at the University of
Maryland Medical Center for use in monitoring renal transplantation.
J Horea Rus, MD, PhD, associate professor, and
Cosmin A. Tegla, MD, post-doctoral fellow, both from
the Department of Neurology; and Violeta Rus, MD,
PhD, associate professor, Department of Medicine,
co-published “Neuroprotective effects of the
complement terminal pathway during demyelination: Implications for oligodendrocyte survival” in
the Journal of Neuroimmunology, 2009, 213, 3-11.
J Lynn Schriml, PhD,
assistant professor,
Horea Rus, MD, PhD
Department of Epidemiology & Preventive
Medicine and Institute
for Genome Sciences,
was lead author of
“GeMInA, Genomic
Metadata for Infectious
Agents, a geospatial
surveillance pathogen Lynn Schriml, PhD
database,” published
in an advanced online version of Nucleic Acids
Research (2009:1-11) on October 22, 2009 and in
NAR’s January Database Issue. Other contributors
Owen White, PhD
included Owen White, PhD, professor, Department
of Epidemiology & Preventive Medicine, and director of Bioinformatics,
Institute for Genome Sciences; and Cesar Arze, Suvarna Nadendla, Anu Ganapathy, Victor Felix, Anup Mahurkar, Aaron Gussman and Sam Angiuoli, all staff at the
Institute for Genome Sciences.

We welcome our new faculty!
J John Cottrell, MS, joined the Department
of Pediatrics as an assistant professor in October 2009. Mr. Cottrell received
his MS from the University of Maryland, Baltimore. Prior to joining the
Department of Pediatrics, he was a member of the Department of Pathology
and manager of the University of Maryland Marlene and Stewart Greenebaum
Cancer Center’s Tissue Bank. In addition to his role as tissue coordinator with
the Department of Pediatrics, Mr. Cottrell will teach human brain anatomy to
staff, fellows and technicians.
J Laide Jinadu, MD, joined the Department of Pediatrics as an assistant professor in September 2009. Dr. Jinadu received her MD from the University of
California Los Angeles School of Medicine and completed an internship/
residency in Pediatrics at Kaiser Permanente Los Angeles Medical Center. Dr.
Jinadu also recently completed a Pediatric Nephrology Fellowship at Cedars
Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California.
J Christian Lachner, MD, joined the Department of Psychiatry in October 2009
as an assistant professor. Previously, Dr. Lachner worked at the Department of
Psychiatry at CIMA Hospital in San Jose, Costa Rica, where he was a member
of the Medical Executive Committee as well as the Ethics Committee. Dr.
Lachner was also an honorary professor of psychiatry at the University of
Costa Rica School of Medicine, from which he graduated in 1998. Dr. Lachner completed residency training in psychiatry at the University of Maryland/
Sheppard Pratt in Baltimore and then sought fellowship training in Geriatric
Psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh/Western Psychiatric Institute and
Clinic in Pittsburgh. He is currently a part of the Division of Geriatric Psychiatry, where he is involved in patient care, research and residency training.
J Andree Lessard, PhD, joined the Department of Psychiatry in September
2009 as an instructor and as director of the Maryland Brain Collection at the
Maryland Psychiatric Research Center. Previously, Dr. Lessard worked at the
Department of Neurology and Neurosciences at Weill Cornell Medical College (New York, NY) as a postdoctoral associate (2003–2006) and instructor
in neuroscience (2006–2008). Dr. Lessard completed BSc, MSc and PhD programs at Université de Sherbrooke (Sherbrooke, Canada, 1993), Université
Laval (Québec City, Canada, 1997) and Université de Montréal (Montréal,

the buzz

New Faculty continued
Canada, 2003). Her main research interests include neurophysiology of stress,
neuroanatomy of G protein-coupled receptors using high resolution electron
microscopy and psychiatric diseases.
J Aimee McCullough, PsyD, joined the Department of Pediatrics as an assistant
professor in September 2009. Dr. McCullough received her PsyD in clinical psychology from Drexel University in Philadelphia. Her pre- and post
doctoral internships were at the Devereux Institute for Clinical Training and
Research in Villanova, PA. Prior to her recruitment to Maryland, Dr. McCullough was chief psychologist with Children’s Services of Ireland.
J Trevor Valentine, MBBS, joined the Department of Pediatrics as an assistant
professor in September 2009. Dr. Valentine received his MBBS. from the
University of the West Indies Faculty of Medicine. He completed a pediatric
residency and a fellowship in child psychiatry at the University of Miami
School of Medicine, followed by a fellowship in Developmental & Behavior
Pediatrics at the Georgetown University School of Medicine. Prior to his
recruitment, Dr. Valentine was director of Developmental Pediatric Services
and medical director of the Lead Clinic at Mt. Washington Pediatric Hospital
in Baltimore.

Honors

& Awards

Congratulations to the following who have received honors!
J Maureen Black, PhD, the John A. Scholl, MD & Mary Louise Scholl, MD
Professor of Pediatrics, was awarded the Annual Logan Wright Research Award
from the Society of Pediatric Psychology at the annual meeting of the American
Psychological Association in Toronto August 6–9, 2009. Recipients of the award
are selected in recognition of their excellence in child psychology research.

J Mordecai Blaustein, MD, professor, Department of Physiology,
will receive the 2010 Distinguished Service Award from the
Biophysical Society for his many years serving as Society Treasurer. The award will be presented at the Annual Biophysical
Society meeting February 20–24, 2010, in San Francisco. Dr.
Blaustein was also featured in the Biophysicist in Profile section of the Biophysical Society Newsletter, September 2009,
pages 4–5.

Mordecai Blaustein, MD

J Curt Civin, MD, associate dean for Research, director, Center
for Stem Cell Biology & Regenerative Medicine, and professor,
Department of Pediatrics, was recognized for his revolutionary
research discoveries, receiving the Karl Landsteiner Memorial
Award, and being chosen to give the Landsteiner lecture at
the American Association of Blood Banks (AABB) Annual
Meeting in New Orleans in October 2009. The prestigious Karl
Landsteiner Memorial Award and Lectureship was initiated
by the AABB in 1955 to honor Karl Landsteiner, MD, whose
Nobel Prize-winning discoveries of the ABO and Rh blood
Curt Civin, MD
group antigens laid the foundation for modern blood transfusion
therapy. AABB’s Landsteiner Award recognizes a scientist whose original research resulted in an important contribution to the body of scientific knowledge
and who has an international reputation in blood
transfusion medicine or a related field. Dr. Civin
received the Landsteiner Award for his pioneering research discoveries relating to the cellular
and molecular biology of the stem and progenitor
cell, including the identification and isolation of
the CD34+ blood-forming stem-progenitor cell,
which dramatically improved cellular therapies
and bone marrow transplantation.

Dr. Jacobs (left) was presented the Gold
Cane Award by American Urological
Association President Dr. John Barry at
the 2009 Annual Meeting in Chicago.

the buzz

J Stephen Jacobs, MD, professor, Department
of Surgery, was awarded the 2009 Gold Cane
Award by The American Urological Association
(AUA). The award is presented annually to a
senior urologist who has made outstanding

Appointments

Honors & Awards continued
contributions to the profession and to the AUA. Dr.
Jacobs was cited for innovation and leadership in
the field of laparoscopic donor nephrectomy and in
resident education.

We applaud our colleagues on
their recent appointments!

J Virginia Keane, MD, associate professor, DepartVirginia Keane, MD
ment of Pediatrics, was awarded the Pediatrician
of the Year Award by the American Academy of
Pediatrics (AAP) at their annual awards dinner on September 17, 2009. This
award is given to a pediatrician who is also a Fellow of the AAP and a member
of the Maryland Chapter and whose career has exemplified the ideals of pediatrics in service, advocacy and contribution to organized pediatrics in Maryland.
J Misbah Khan, MD, MPH, clinical professor, Department of Pediatrics, was
awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Maryland chapter of the
American Academy of Pediatrics at their annual awards dinner September 17,
2009. This award was voted on by her peers and recognizes Dr. Khan for her
lifelong contributions to the health and well-being of Maryland
children and to educating medical students and residents.
J Wendy Lane, MD, MPH, assistant professor, Department of Epidemiology & Preventive Medicine, received a Special Achievement Award from the American Academy of Pediatrics for her
work on developing a statewide health care system for foster
youth. Dr. Lane’s clinical and research work is focused primarily on child maltreatment, with specific interests in abusive
abdominal trauma, child abuse prevention, physician identification and reporting of maltreatment, and race and class differences in the identification and reporting of maltreatment.
Wendy Lane, MD, MPH

J Homan Mohammadi, a senior student in the Department of Medical and Research Technology, was awarded first prize in the Biological Sciences
Category, Section II, Division H for his poster presentation entitled, “Double and
Triple Fusion Peptidoglycan Hydrolases as Novel Antimicrobials” at the 12th Annual Undergraduate Research Symposium, held October 10, 2009, at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Mohammadi’s classmates Chun-Yuan Cheng
and Christopher Larrimore also presented posters at the Research Symposium; all
three poster abstracts were published in the Symposium proceedings.

J Miriam Blitzer, PhD, professor and
head of the division of Human Genetics, Department of Pediatrics,
has been appointed the executive
director of the American Board
of Genetics (ABMG) effective
September 1, 2009. As executive
Shannan Dixon, MS, CGC
director, she will represent the
Miriam Blitzer, PhD
ABMG on the American Board of
Medical Specialties, as well as other organizations representing the genetic community. In addition, she will represent the
ABMG at appropriate public and governmental venues and
work closely with the Board of Directors to coordinate board
activities, provide administrative oversight and manage internal committee activities.
J Carol Carraccio, MD, professor, Department of Pediatrics, has
been appointed chair-elect of the Board of Directors of the
American Board of Pediatrics for a one-year term beginning
January 2010. In 2011, she will serve as chair of the board for
one year, and in 2012 she will serve as immediate past-chair for
another year.

Jon Furuno, PhD

J Shannan Dixon, MS, CGC, assistant professor, Department of
Pediatrics, was appointed vice-chair of the National Society
of Genetic Counselor’s Annual Education Conference, held
November 12–15, 2009, in Atlanta, GA.
J Jon Furuno, PhD, assistant professor, Department of Epidemiology & Preventive Medicine, has been appointed associate
editor for the journal, BMC Public Health.
J Ann Gruber-Baldini, PhD, associate professor, Department of
Epidemiology & Preventive Medicine, has been appointed a
fellow in the Gerontological Society.

the buzz

Ann Gruber-Baldini, PhD

Grants &

Contracts

Congratulations to our very productive faculty on their recent
grants and contracts!
J Maureen Black, PhD, the John A. Scholl, MD & Mary Louise Scholl, MD Professor of Pediatrics, was awarded a $2,000,375 grant from the National Institute
of Child Health and Human Development for “Toddler Feeding Styles.” The
grant covers the period September 30, 2009 to August 31, 2011.
J Manhattan Charurat, PhD, MHS, assistant professor, Department of Medicine and
Institute of Human Virology, received a four-year $2,858,656 grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for his work entitled “Acute
HIV Infection and Pregnancy.” The goal of this research is to investigate the
impact of HIV acquisition during pregnancy on mother-to-child transmission
(MTCT) of HIV in Nigeria.
J Kevin Chen, PhD, MPH, associate professor, Department of Family & Community Medicine and Center for Integrative Medicine, received an Independent
Investigator Award of $100,000 from NARSAD, The Brain
and Behavior Research Fund, for his clinical investigation
on “Integrative meditation for the treatment of co-occurring
anxiety disorders among heroin dependent patients: a randomized controlled study to establish feasibility and efficacy.”
J Jon Furuno, PhD, assistant professor, Department of Epidemiology & Preventive Medicine, received a two-year $50,000 K01
grant from the National Institute of
Allergy and Infectious Diseases for his
work entitled “Epidemiology of resistant
Kevin Chen, PhD, MPH bacteria in acute-care and long-term care
facilities.” This funding is supported by
the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009
instituted by the Obama Administration.
J Robert Gallo, MD, professor, Department of Medicine,
and director, Institute of Human Virology, received a twoyear $936,985 grant from the National Cancer Institute
for his work entitled “FLSC Combined with Tat Toxoid as Robert Gallo, MD

an HIV Prophylactic Vaccine.” This funding is supported
by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
The goal of this research is to evaluate in a rhesus macaque
SHIV model whether a combination of the Full Length Single
Chain (FLSC) and Tat toxoid can potentially be preventative
vaccine for AIDS and AIDS malignancies.
J Alfredo Garzino-Demo, PhD, assistant professor, Department of
Microbiology & Immunology and Institute of Human Virology,
received a five-year $1,687,500 grant from the National Institute Alfredo Garzino-Demo, PhD
of Neurological Disorders and Stroke for his work entitled “A
Novel Anti-HIV Activity of CCR6 via APOBEC3G: Relevance to CNS Infection.” The goal of this research is to investigate the mechanism of inhibition of
HIV by a cellular receptor called CCR6. These studies are highly relevant to prevention and treatment of HIV infection because they will contribute knowledge
that can be used to develop novel anti-HIV drugs that will target CCR6.
J Alonso Heredia, MD, assistant professor, Department
of Medicine and Institute of Human Virology, received a two-year $150,000 grant from the National
Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for his
work entitled, “Control of HIV Drug Resistance in
Older Patients.” This funding is supported by the
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
The goal of this research is to control HIV drug-resistance by targeting cellular components required in
the HIV life cycle. The objective is to determine the
mechanism by which R5 HIV resistant to CCR5 an- Alonso Heredia, MD
tagonist regains sensitivity at reduced CCR5 density.
J Shay-Whey Koh, PhD, associate professor, Departments of Ophthalmology
& Visual Sciences and Physiology, received an award under the American
Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 for additional funding of grant
RP1EY011607 in the amounts of $44,046 & $148,230, to support her project
“Neurotrophic Factor Modulation of Corneal Endothelium.”

the buzz

Grants & Contracts continued
J George Lewis, PhD, professor, Department of Microbiology & Immunology and Institute of Human Virology,
received a two-year $850,866 grant from the National
Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for his work
entitled “Broad Neutralizing Monoclonal Antibodies from HIV Controllers.” This funding is supported
George Lewis, PhD
by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
of 2009. The goal of this research is to identify novel monoclonal antibodies
(mAbs) that broadly recognize the HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein (Env) and
block infection in vitro to guide vaccine development.
J Michaela K. Mathews, MD, assistant professor, Department
of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences, received a $170,502
Clinician-Scientist Award from the National Eye Institute for her
project entitled “Lipoprotein (a) in Vascular Diseases of the Eye.”
J Gregory Melikian, PhD, professor in the Department of Microbiology & Immunology and Institute of Human Virology, received
a two-year $375,000 grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for his
work entitled “Functional Characterization of the Hepatitis C Virus
Michaela K. Mathews, MD E1-E2 Glycoproteins.” This funding
is supported by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The goal of
this research is to examine the rates of HCV uptake
and fusion by single-particle tracking and to test the
receptor-priming requirement for low pH-induced
E1E2 refolding and characterize intermediate stages
of HCV fusion.
Gregory Melikian, PhD

J Istvan Merchenthaler, MD, PhD, ScD, professor, Department of Epidemiology & Preventive Medicine, received a two-year $705,517
grant from the National Institute of Aging for “Novel Treatment of Menopausal
Hot Flashes with an extradiol Prodrug.” This funding is supported by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

J Dave Pauza, PhD, professor, Department of
Medicine and Institute of Human Virology, received
a four-year $1,238,776 grant from the National
Cancer Institute for his work entitled “Mechanisms
for depleting tumor immunity in AIDS.” The goal
of this research is to investigate intracellular signaling pathways that control cell functions, to uncover
defects associated with HIV infection. Knowledge of
these defects and potentially understanding the viral
proteins responsible for these defects, is proximal to
designing new therapy approaches to recover gd T
cells in persons with HIV disease.

Dave Pauza, PhD

J Eli Perencevich, MD, MS, associate professor, Department of Epidemiology &
Preventive Medicine, received a one-year $75,000 grant from the Association
of American Medical Colleges for his work entitled, “Automated Methods for
Tracking Compliance with Infection Control Measures.”
J Christopher Plowe, MD, professor, Department of
Medicine and chief of the Malaria Section, Center
for Vaccine Development, was awarded a threeyear $1.5 million contract (and a two-year option
of $1 million) from the United States Agency for
International Development Regional Development Mission/Asia to support molecular surveillance of drug-resistant malaria in
the Greater Mekong SubregionCambodia, China, Laos, Thailand,
Vietnam, and (possibly at a later
Christopher Plowe, MD
date) Burma. This award is a collaboration with Mahidol University Faculty of Tropical Medicine in Bangkok, Thailand, and Global Scientific Solutions for
Health in Baltimore.
J Robert Redfield, MD, professor, Department of Medicine and
associate director, Institute of Human Virology, received a fiveRobert Redfield, MD

the buzz

Grants & Contracts continued
year $8,050,000 President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) grant
through the Centers for Disease Control National Center for HIV, STD and TB
Prevention. The grant, entitled “Partnership for Advanced Clinical Education
Strengthening Pre-Service and In-Service HIV Training in the Republic of
Kenya,” will enable the University of Maryland to work with the government
of Kenya to assess and strengthen HIV training for key medical personnel. This
unique grant, the first of its kind to be funded through PEPFAR, will integrate
pre-service HIV education and in-service HIV training to ensure that the country of Kenya has a sustainable system for educating and continuously developing
healthcare providers through the entire continuum
of care delivery. The grant is expected to expand
within Kenya during the funding time period, and
will act as a model for other HIV-affected countries
seeking to streamline HIV education by linking
education and service delivery.
J Mark Rogers, PT, PhD, professor and acting chair,
Department of Physical Therapy & Rehabilitation
Science, has been awarded a two-year $1,156,662
National Institute on Aging R01 grant to study “Lateral Stability and Falls in Aging.” This is the first
Mark Rogers, PT, PhD
R01 grant ever awarded to the department.

Fabio Romerio, PhD

J Fabio Romerio, PhD, assistant professor, Department of
Medicine and Institute of Human Virology, received a two-year
$421,129 grant from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for his work entitled “A New Insight into HIV-1
Latency Through a Novel In Vitro System.” This funding is
supported by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of
2009. The goal of this research is to determine the gene expression profile of in vitro-generated latently infected cells isolated
by fluorescence activated cell sorting and to test the hypothesis
that CCR5- and CXCR4-tropic HIV-1 strains show different
propensities to establish and re-emerge from latency.

J Maria Salvato, PhD, professor, Department of Medicine and Institute of
Human Virology, received a two-year $984,910 grant from the National
Institutes of Health for her work entitled “Protection of vaccine immunity by
inhibiting Fas/FasL signaling.” The goal of this research is to test inhibitors of
cell-death signals that would have short-term effects and highly-specific targets, yet would not interfere with the development of strong responses against
cancers or infections.
J Lynn Schriml, PhD, assistant professor, Department of Epidemiology & Preventive Medicine, received a two-year $501,909 R01 grant from National Center
for Research Resources, in collaboration with Northwestern University, for her
work entitled “DO: An Open Biomedical Ontology for Disease.”
This funding is supported by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
J Michael Terrin, MD, CM, MPH, professor, Department of
Epidemiology & Preventive Medicine, received a seven-year
$30,729,138 grant from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood
Institute for the establishment of a Progenitor Cell Biology
Consortium Administrative Coordinating Center. The goal of
this initiative is to develop a highly interactive and synergistic consortium of investigators who will share ideas, data and
resources to move the field of progenitor cell biology forward.

Lai-Xi Wang, PhD

the buzz

Michael Terrin, MD, CM, MPH

J Lai-Xi Wang, PhD, professor, Department of Biochemistry & Molecular Biology and
Institute of Human Virology, received a one-year
and nine month $525,000 grant supplement from
the National Institute of General Medical Sciences
for his work entitled “Convergent Chemoenzymatic
Synthesis of Glycopeptides and Glycoproteins.”
This funding is supported by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The goal of this
research is to develop new methods for the efficient
synthesis of glycoproteins for structural

­

Grants & Contracts continued

In the News

and functional studies. The information gained will
be valuable for development of glycoprotein-based
therapeutics.
J Ron Zielke, PhD, professor, Department of Pediatrics, with strong support from his staff, received
a five-year $7,150,000 contract for the continued
operation of the National Institute of Child Health
and Human Development (NICHD) Brain and
Tissue Bank for Developmental Disorders. Kathleen
Currey, MD, clinical assistant professor, and Ling Li,
Ron Zielke, PhD
BM, assistant professor, both of the Department of
Pediatrics, contributed greatly to this successful
competitive renewal. The NICHD Brain and Tissue Bank serves as a human
tissue repository for research to benefit individuals with hundreds of different
developmental disorders. The Bank has collected brain and systemic tissue
from over 3,000 donors throughout the US and Canada; over 710 researchers
in 20 countries have received tissue from the Bank, resulting in more than 800
publications.

Buzz Contacts
Many thanks to the following
people who serve as your liaisons for the information you see
in What’s the Buzz? Please send
information (within the realm
of the categories listed above)
that you would like to see in
the Buzz to the appropriate
person within your department,
program, center or office.
Anatomy & Neurobiology:
Carolyn Craighead
Anesthesiology: Betsy Burcham
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology:
Bruce Reinecke
Dermatology: Betsy Satosky
Diagnostic Radiology & Nuclear
Medicine: Nan Knight

A job well done to all who have kept us in
the media spotlight!
J Anne Reicherter, PT, DPT, PhD, associate professor,
Department of Physical Therapy & Rehabilitation Science, was featured in the November 30,
2009, issue of Woman’s Day magazine. She offered
her expert advice in an article about getting rid of
holiday knee pain.
J Thelma Wright, MD, assistant professor, Department of Anesthesiology, was featured on the December 30, 2009, broadcast of Fox 45 Baltimore’s “Your Health Matters.” Dr.
Wright, who is also director of the University of Maryland Pain Management
Center, discussed methods of pain management for chronic pain.

Buzz Information Link
for Students
A hyperlink is available on the School
of Medicine Website for you to
submit information to the Buzz to
acknowledge honors, prizes, presentations, leadership positions and other
noteworthy accomplishments. Go to:
http://medschool.umaryland.edu/
Public_Affairs/buzz.asp